Putin’s shady Wagner Group mercenary army flee Mozambique after 10 are beheaded ‘by ISIS’
THE Russian Wagner Group - a private army with alleged links to the Kremlin - has been forced to flee conflict in Mozambique after they were set upon by Islamist groups, possibly including ISIS.
The mercenaries had been fighting in southern Africa as governments have been negotiating a £30 billion deal for natural gas fields off Cabo Delgado since 2010.
reports that around 200 fighters from the private army have retreated from the operation after ten men were killed in gruesome attacks by Islamist militants.
It's thought ten of the Russians - thought to be mostly ex-servicemen - were killed in ambushes, botched operations or were beheaded.
'ILL-PREPARED' FOR MISSION
The Wagner Group were deployed to Mozambique three months ago to tackle a rising Islamic extremism which is battling to establish an Islamic state in the area rich in natural gas, and worth billions of pounds.
The biggest players in the establishing of the extremist state are Mozambican terror group Ansar al-Sunna, but as of 2018, ISIS has allegedly become active in the region.
Islamic State also claimed its first attack against Mozambique's security forces in June this year.
Military experts say the Russians were likely "ill-prepared" for the mission, and that "attempting to apply a European or Russian style of strategic approach to an African conflict was a recipe for disaster."
The mercenaries' relationship with their host, the Mozambique Defence Armed Forces also broke down after several Russian fighters were killed in "friendly fire."
The Wagner Group have reportedly been deployed to Sudan, the Central African Republic, Libya and Syria.
LINKS TO PUTIN
It's widely believed they are linked to the Kremlin as they are owned founded by Yevgeny Prigozhin who is a close friend of the Putin's.
In May, Russian media was set ablaze when a harrowing video appeared to show members of The Wagner Group beheading and torturing Syrian national, Mohammed Taha Ismail, accused of deserting his unit.
In the horrific clip it's reported four men dressed in camouflage beat the Syrian with sledgehammers, behead him and set his corpse ablaze.
As the group chillingly pose for a photo with the mutilated body, a man removed his mask - with Russian journalists using facial recognition equipment to identify the man.
According to one Russian newspaper, the man is known as Stanislav D. - this is corroborated with leaked documents, including the man's Russian passport and several other investigations including one from online investigative outlet, Bellingcat.
DENY ALL KNOWLEDGE
He was a former police officer from southern Russia before joining the group in 2016 to "protect" the country's interests in foreign lands.
But the Kremlin denied all knowledge of him.
And looking into the highly secretive - and seemingly dangerous - group has had dastardly consequences for investigators.
Three documentary filmmakers were found dead, showered with bullets at the side of the road in the Central African Republic while probing the group.
While authorities in Moscow claim the documentary filmmakers, whose bullet-riddled bodies were left at the side of a road, were killed in a random robbery - their colleagues claim "known associates of the Wagner Group" were involved in their murders, reports .
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And one news outlet, which reported on the activities of the shadowy firm, claim their staff have been threatened and harassed.
Proekt, an independent Moscow-based online news outlet which specialises in investigations, began to publish a series of articles in March looking into the role of the group.
Around the same time editor-in-chief Roman Badanin said his journalists began to receive emailed threats of physical retribution for their work.
